


ot18 nct zombie apocalypse au

by chittaphreak



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Angst, Death, Horror, Major character death - Freeform, Multi, NCT Dream - Freeform, NCT U, Violence, Zombie Apocalypse, nct - Freeform, nct 127
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-17
Updated: 2018-10-17
Packaged: 2019-08-03 15:11:27
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 16
Words: 14,578
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16328405
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/chittaphreak/pseuds/chittaphreak
Summary: it’s been a few years since the infection broke out, eighteen boys are split into three main groups. 127, u, and dream. however there is one boy that roams free amongst all three, which is more of a deadly game than teasing the infected.





	1. Chapter 1

three days. it had been three days since their last meal; or what was considered a meal nowadays. back when civilization was still up and running, it would be considered a “light snack”. one would think that after years with mark, ten wouldn’t be stressed every time he left for food. however, as always, ten was on the verge of a panic attack while kun was busy trying to calm him down.

“it’s been three days, kun, i-”  
“ten, calm down, this is usually how long it takes him to find food, you know that.”  
“yeah, i fucking do! but what if this time he’s actually gone forever? what if another group took him or-”  
“shh! if you keep screaming like this you’ll attract walkers! just take deep breaths, he’ll be back.”

ten did as told, taking deep breaths as they trudged around the forest. in the back of his mind, there was this looming sense that mark left for another group. it’s not a thought one would think about when one of their members go missing, but for ten it was the thought that haunted him every time any of his members left.

a few years ago, their group, “u” used to be called “the seventh sense”. a name that ten picked out when he found other people that were willing to fight against this hell with him. it consisted of him, mark, taeyong, doyoung, and jaehyun. they were all sharp, quick, and well timed. truly unstoppable, as anyone still sane knew well. that was until the day ten came across kun, who camouflaged so well into the scene that all five of them didn't notice him until they heard his pistol cocking: doyoung immediately, almost as if acting upon instinct, disarmed him. ten wanted to add him in the minute he realized how skilled kun was. he was a different type of fighter, the type that would heal his teammates while still managing to be stealthy. the other members of the group began to become possessive over it. taeyong, jaehyun, and doyoung fought against ten's decision with everything they had, then finally they came to a conclusion. the three decided to leave ten and mark to fend for themselves with kun. word got out a few weeks later that they had started a new group, named “127”. ten figured it was a new era, thus the name “u” emerged.

ten, breathing heavily and shaking slightly, was still obviously panicking. kun sighed, grabbing him by the shoulders and sitting him down against a tree. 

“what? what did i do now?”  
“calm down.”  
“i’m calm!”  
“no! you're not! you're hyperventilating and you can't even hold that axe steady!”

ten squinted at him, holding his axe out in front of him to try to prove a point. however, the only point proven was kun's, because the weapon was trembling in his small hands. 

“exactly.” kun crossed his arms, “now calm down, please. he'll come back.”

they started bickering once more, before an irritated jungwoo felt the need to add to it, “you guys always fucking do this! mark leaves for a split second and then ten's dramatic ass has a breakdown! then of course here comes everyone's angel, kun! I'm so fucking sick of it! shut up for fucks sake he's obviously coming back so SHUT UP!”

ten's grip on his axe tightened and he almost immediately stopped shaking as he held the weapon up toward the other, “you have no right to-”  
“ten, put it down. jungwoo's probably just hungry and it's getting to him.” kun tried his best to mediate, but to no avail.

“I'M NOT FUCKING HUNGRY, I'M SICK AND TIRED OF YOUR BULLSH-”

he was stopped by yukhei clamping a hand over his mouth, shooting a look of warning to all three of them. silence reigned for a few moments until it was broken by the sound of crunching leaves. they all quickly readied their weapons, preparing for an attack of some sort. 

they heard a short high pitched whistle, making them lower their weapons with a relieved sigh. mark stepped into view with his usual cheeky smile plastered on his face. he quickly pulled off his backpack, tossing it on the floor and opening it to reveal his haul. “gentlemen, tonight we feast like kings!”


	2. Chapter 2

ten just about knocked mark over with the hug he gave him, mark laughing as he returned the gesture. it was normal for him but it still made him just as happy as it did the first time he left. ten immediately started checking him for any wounds, meanwhile kun began to search through the backpack to check whatever food he brought.

“did anything happen?”  
“i mean, i killed a few walkers but other than that, no.”  
“did you get more ammo?”  
“yes! fully loaded!” he smiled, holding up his pistol.  
“good,” ten flashed a small smile before bringing mark's head closer to place a kiss on his forehead. “kun?”  
“yeah, everything seems alright.” kun confirmed, lifting up the bag again.  
“then, let's eat!”

after yukhei had managed to open up the cans with his machete, the five of them sat down and began to eat. "dinner" was full of quiet laughter and joking from all of the boys, except one.

“jungwoo, you haven't eaten at all..” kun's face saddened, figuring something was wrong with the younger.  
“i'm just not hungry. don't worry about it. more for you guys.” he replied, his tone full of ice as he stared at the floor.

yukhei scooted next to him, gently driving a finger into his cheek. “zeus,” he whispered, “zeeeeeuuuussssss.” the younger giggled as he messed with the other. jungwoo couldn't help but crack a smile as he swatted away his finger, looking up at him, “what do you want, you puppy?” his tone was much gentler as he spoke to him. it was lighthearted and playful, the way it had been a while ago. 

jungwoo had been very on edge since his recent encounter with a walker. while mark was out collecting food once more, ten and kun were bickering again. jungwoo couldn't focus over their whisper-yells and sadly, neither could yukhei. the next thing he knew, the flesh on his arm was being clawed into by an infected and he panicked so much he couldn't even yell for help. he was frozen, trying to scream but no sound could escape his mouth. at this point its teeth were just centimeters from his neck, which had tears of desperation streaming down it. his weapon was on the ground and out of reach. he was moments away from giving in and letting it take him before the creature's head was sliced open and its disgustingly curdled blood was splattered on jungwoo. the next thing he knew he was in the arms of his savior, yukhei, who was busy scolding kun and ten.

that was roughly a week ago and they hadn't talked about it since, but they all knew jungwoo blamed kun and ten for it. as much as yukhei tried to sway jungwoo's opinion on the matter—labelling it as an accident or even taking the blame—it didn't work in the slightest.

“can you eat just a little, for me?” yukhei batted his eyelashes and pouted, that goofy smile of his present on his lips.  
jungwoo pursed his own and squinted before sighing, “fine, if that'll get you to leave me alone.”  
“never. but, it does get you a hug.” he laughed, wrapping his arms tightly around jungwoo without hesitation.  
the latter simply smiled as he ate, enjoying the warmth yukhei gave off.


	3. Chapter 3

it was jungwoo's night watch shift, the shift he hated the most specifically due to how utterly boring it was. the only good part of it was that it gave him time to think. time to mull over one of the biggest decisions he's make in his life.

the others had been asleep for a few hours, mark in his usual routine of mumbling in multiple languages in his sleep. come to think of it, jungwoo really didn't know much about mark in the slightest. he knew that his name is mark and he speaks multiple languages. that was basically it. it's not like he saw much of him ever, he was always out and about getting food. jungwoo had no idea where he went for food and how he came back with so much every time. he never thought to ask. the boy was strange and secretive.

meanwhile yukhei was an open book; he was a high school student in china, his real name was xuxi, and he had a knack for brightening up any situation. truthfully, he was the only person jungwoo trusted in the group.

he gently shook yukhei's shoulder, trying to get him to wake up. yukhei shot up immediately, eyes wide and body tense. he was obviously under the impression something had gone wrong. jungwoo shook his head, whispering “nothing happened, it's okay.”

yukhei's eyebrows knit together, staring at the other, “then why'd you wake me up?” he was speaking at normal volume rather than whispering.

jungwoo quickly put a finger to his lips, eyes darting to the other three that were still sleeping. yukhei pulled his finger off before whispering, “why don't you want them to wake up?”

“i have a proposal and i don't want them to hear it." the younger gave that confused look once more as jungwoo kept talking, "i think—i think we should leave.”  
yukhei opened his mouth to say something but jungwoo stopped him, “listen, i know, ten and mark used to be hot shit back in the day. everyone knows that. but they aren't anymore. they've gotten soft and weak. what's more, they don't care about anyone other than themselves. i'm so tired of being treated like dirt by them... aren't you?”

yukhei stared, mouth agape before closing it and shaking his head. “no, jungwoo. they don't treat me like that. they don't treat any of us like that-”  
“i almost died because they were busy arguing! what do you mean? they don't give a shit about us and you know it!”  
“they care.”  
“how can you say that? yukhei, I'm the only one in this group that actually cares about you. i would gladly go through hell and back for you. would they? no. of course not. all three of them only care about themselves, they only pretend because they pity you and i. so, please just this once trust me. i promise when we leave we'll find somewhere better.”  
“no.”  
“what?”  
“no. jungwoo, we are literally in the apocalypse and yet they feed us and treat our wounds. it's a high stress world we live in now, but it's one you're just going to have to get used to. i know, i most likely won't be able to change your mind, so you can leave if you want; but I'm staying.”  
“i... i can't believe after everything you'd really side with them-“  
“goodnight, jungwoo.” with those two words, yukhei laid down, shutting his eyes tightly and turning to face away from the elder. yukhei understood completely how jungwoo felt, it was logical after what he had been through. but yukhei owed those three his life.

about two years ago: kun, ten, and mark were out, searching for food and some sort of shelter, when they stumbled across a body. at first glance, it looked like another corpse just in the woods, but kun had an odd feeling about it. upon closer inspection, said body was still alive and breathing, barely clinging to life. they flipped it over, finding it to be a boy about mark's age. kun quickly checked him for any bite marks, thankfully he was clean of any that bore any resemblance of human teeth. however he was covered in those of some sort of animal. every bite mark was swollen and infected, and the boy seemed to have no consciousness over what was happening although his eyes were slightly opened. without hesitation, kun began to treat the boy's wounds while mark tried to wake him up and ten scavenged through his bag for some semblance of leftover food. this was all done silently, as if they had agreed through some sort of telekinesis to save this random boy they had found in the woods.

after a few hours, the boy had woken up. he gave them all a bewildered look before breaking into sobs. “please let me live, i-i promise i won't hurt you! just leave me alone! please, i-”

kun quietly hushed him, handing him a small flask of water, “you'll dehydrate yourself even more if you keep crying.”

the boy, confused, only stared at him and the flask, speechless.

“well, go on and take it, kid.” ten spoke.

he did as told, drinking the entire container without thinking before immediately breaking into tears again. “gosh, I'm so sorry, i didn't mean to drink all of it! please-”  
“it's fine. we wouldn't have given it to you if we didn't want you to drink it,” ten smiled, “how do you feel?”  
“... weak.”  
“sounds about right. when we found you, you were just about dead. covered in dog bites, i think, starving and dehydrated too. you're really bad at taking care of yourself. thankfully, kun here patched you up.”

kun flashed the brightest smile the boy had seen in his lifetime, somehow making him feel a little less scared. kun opened his mouth to say something before mark interrupted, holding out a hand to the boy. “hi! i've been waiting ages for you to wake up! I'm mark!!”  
“... yukhei.” he reluctantly took his hand and shook it. he furrowed his brows, glancing at all three of them. “why did you save me?”  
“you were on the edge of death, why wouldn't we?” ten returned his confused look.  
“also, mark was very excited to gain a member his age,” kun added in.  
“member?” yukhei asked.  
“oh yeah. well if you want to join at least, if you don't that's fine too. but like i said, you seem really bad at taking care of yourself. we're ‘u’. you might've heard about us-“  
“nope,” yukhei interrupted ten with a barely noticeable smile.  
“well, we're a group. i'm ten, that's mark, and that's kun. we would obviously love to have you join, but like i said, you don't have to. however, it would be nice for both of us. you get food, water, protection and in return we get another member.”  
“.... sure.” he fully cracked that smile of his that would become his signature.


	4. Chapter 4

come morning, jungwoo was still there, waiting for everyone to wake up. he had everything already packed in his bag and his face was as grave as ever.

yukhei was the first to wake, giving jungwoo a bright smile when he noticed them there. he had assumed jungwoo decided to stay and it made him as happy as ever. he stood, scuttling over to the elder and wrapping his strong arms around him. rather than softening up as he usually did, jungwoo sat, face as straight as ever, causing yukhei to pull away confusedly.

he didn't speak a word until they had all woken up, staring at them all with the same face.

“uh... jungwoo are you okay?” mark asked, raising an eyebrow.

jungwoo closed his eyes, tightening his fists around the straps of his bag, before taking a deep breath. “i've thought about this for a while and,” he opened his eyes, pupils darting around the four of them. “i want to leave.”

the hurt was visible in all their faces, yukhei's especially. but ten quickly wiped his look away, nodding in response. “okay. if that's your decision then-“  
“why?” kun interrupted, almost looking as forlorn as yukhei.”  
“... i don't feel as if I'm a necessary part of the team.”  
“what's that supposed to mean?” mark looked more confused than pained by all of this.  
“well, i was trying to put it lightly but—it doesn't exactly seem as if any of you are dying to keep me around. in fact, it kind of seems like i'm expendable.” he gave a cold look to ten and kun before continuing, “to be frank, this group weakened immensely and i just don't feel safe. there's no benefit to staying anymore.”  
“what are you-” kun pitched in, his voice signified how hurt he was from all of this, sounding like he was about to burst into tears.  
“stop. he's made his decision, we have to respect it.” ten interrupted him, staring directly at jungwoo. “we understand and hope for the best, jungwoo.”

jungwoo stood, looking at all of them before nodding at ten, “thank you, same goes to you as well.” then he simply turned around and walked away.

it felt as if yukhei was on the edge of death all over again, like a part of him was just torn away and was never to be returned. in a way everyone in the group felt it. they all noticed kun start to cry for a few seconds before sucking it up and suggesting breakfast. they all went along with the suggestion as well, spending most of that day just fishing in silence. it was an unspoken rule that when they lost someone they worked out their emotions through fishing. ten had done it for a few days when taeyong, doyoung, and jaehyun had left. it was therapeutic for him especially. deep down he hurt more than all of them, but he had to keep up the tough front as leader. if he didn't stay together then who would?


	5. Chapter 5

it was time for mark to find food once more. the therapy fishing helped somewhat but not enough, as they soon realized that jungwoo had stolen some food before he left. they went through the usual routine of kun making sure everything was in tip top shape for mark, and the other two whining and wishing him safe travels. then ten’s forehead kiss, yukhei’s long hug, and kun’s short one. then he was off.

he walked the same direction he always went. he walked for hours and hours until he had finally reached the sanctuary. 127’s sanctuary.

_“mark. mark, wake up.” doyoung gently shook the sleeping boy’s arm, whispering into his ear._  
_“hm?” mark groaned, sitting up and rubbing his eyes tiredly. “did something happen?”_  
_“not particularly, no.”_

_when the youngest had fully opened his eyes, he saw that it was not only doyoung awake; jaehyun and taeyong were with him as well. the only ones asleep were kun, whom was chained to a tree because of jaehyun’s request and “not being able to trust him”, and ten, leaning on the tree beside kun._

_mark furrowed his brows, looking up at all three of them, “what’s wrong?”_  
_“we’ve decided that, as stubborn as ten is, we are the one’s who will have to change.” jaehyun whispered, his arms crossed as he sat._  
_“so you changed your mind about kun?” mark asked hopefully._  
_“no,” doyoung dismissed, “we still don’t trust him. i mean, he tried to kill us, c’mon.”_  
_“we came up with the idea to leave,” taeyong paused, staring at mark’s uneasy face, “we’re gonna make our own group, mark. we.. we wanna take you with us.”_

_there was silence as mark sat and stared at all three, obviously torn. it was like a nasty divorce and you had to choose which parent to live with._

_“look kid, we know you love ten. we do too. we’ve had a good run, but ten’s lost his touch. he’s gotten soft and now he’s trusting random assholes he finds in the woods!” jaehyun stated, glancing at ten._  
_“you act like he was ever good in the first place.” doyoung rolled his eyes, “anyways, come with us because we’re not totally insane... or you can stay with ten and probably end up dying because of his stupidity! your choice!”_

_taeyong gave an uneasy look toward the two before turning back to mark and placing a hand on his knee. “i’ll let you sleep on it, buddy. come morning, we’re leaving though, so you can come if you want.” he smiled, ruffling the younger’s hair, “sweet dreams, mark.”_

mark did decide that night. his decision was to stick with both of them. it was a dangerous game, he knew that, but he cared for all four of them and he was not the type to pick sides.

he rapped his knuckles in a pattern on the steel door, waiting a brief moment before it opened, a massive figure coming out to embrace him. “hey!! what’s up, mark!”

he returned the hug, staring up at his tall friend, “hi, johnny.”  
“any luck this time?”  
“no, not particularly.”  
“well, that’s okay, i don’t think taeyong will be on your ass today,” he grinned.  
“oh? why?”  
“come on!” he led the other inside, mark closing the door behind them as he followed. the two made it to the common area, where eight familiar figures were huddled around something.

“what’s going on?” mark interrupted. some looked back and immediately faced forward, however taeyong made his way over to mark and ruffled his hair.  
“ah, hi, mark. how are you today?” he was beaming, something had to be up.  
“as well as i can be... what about you?”  
“oh, well, i’m simply ecstatic!”  
“and why is that?”  
“we get to perform the trials today!”

mark furrowed his brows at the elder. trials were the tests new members had to pass in order to be apart of 127, they were grueling and torturous but the ending was always worth it. “... on who?”  
taeyong’s smile grew even wider, “alright, move out of the way! let the boy see the rookie!”

with reluctance, the mass did as told, spreading out so this “rookie” was left alone in the center. yet another familiar face; jungwoo, who’s face turned pale white at the sight of mark.


	6. Chapter 6

they were drawn out of their perpetual stares by taeyong clapping a hand on mark’s shoulder, laughing lightly as he spoke, “mark, meet jungwoo. jungwoo, this is mark.”

jungwoo kept silent for a while, keeping his eyes on mark before shifting his gaze to taeyong, “is he taking the tests too?”  
“oh no,” taeyong laughed, ruffling mark’s hair yet again, “i understand the confusion since he just arrived, but mark has been a member since the very beginning!”  
“... interesting.” his eyes focused on mark again, squinting slightly.  
“well.. if you’re gonna start the trials,” mark laughed awkwardly, moving away from taeyong into the crowd in the side of the room, “then i should probably stay out of the way.”  
“oh no, they’re not happening right now, but soon. i want to give you time to mingle so you can tell me your assessment on this potential recruit.”  
“... right.” mark forgot that since he’s technically an original member, he always has to “assess” the rookies. although, as he thought about it more, it would give him a good chance to persuade jungwoo to keep silent.

he watched as taeyong left, immediately being approached by jaehyun and doyoung.

“it’s been so long, i’m excited, aren’t you?” doyoung asked, a bright smile on his face.  
“haha, yeah..” mark was uneasy and it was present in his voice.  
“nervous huh? don’t worry, i assessed him already, he seems okay. i voted yes,” jaehyun said, glancing back at jungwoo.  
“well, i said no, quite honestly he gives me weak vibes. but i’d _love_ for him to prove me wrong—or at least die trying.” doyoung smirked. he always voted no to new recruits, just to make it interesting if they proved him wrong, or to give him bragging rights when he was right about them.  
“i guess we’ll see..” he mumbled. he felt a pair of eyes on him, ones other than jungwoo’s. he quickly scanned the room, finding it was donghyuck. “excuse me,” he very politely said to the two before moving towards hyuck’s direction.

the younger pulled them away from the crowd, sounding concerned as he spoke, “isn’t he-“  
“yes, keep it down.” mark said in a hushed tone, eyes darting around the room for any eavesdroppers.  
“what happened?” donghyuck quieted, remaining as concerned as ever.  
“he.. he left u yesterday. i guess his plan was to come here instead.”  
“does he know-“  
“no—well, he didn’t until now. i gotta find a way to bribe him or something so he doesn’t start running his mouth.”  
“oh fuck.”  
“oh fuck is correct,” mark huffed, smoothing out his hair before moving toward the crowd, hyuck on his tail.

suddenly there was a weight on his shoulder: yuta’s arm.  
“whatcha thinking?”  
“oh you know.. things.”  
“you don’t trust him, huh?”  
“i wouldn’t say that-“  
“nah, it’s fine. i don’t either. he acts very soft, it’s weird for someone in our position.. even sicheng tried to act tough when he first got here.”  
“are you trying to say i’m not naturally tough?” sicheng was a notorious eavesdropper, especially when his name was involved.  
“of course not! i just mean, you’re kinda naturally soft and cute,” yuta smiled, pinching the younger’s cheek.  
sicheng simply sighed, being used to yuta’s coddling at this point. it gave mark a perfect chance to escape yuta’s grip.

he was free and making his way toward jungwoo before he was stopped by the eldest of the bunch, taeil. “hello, mark.”  
“hi, taeil, i-“  
“i know everyone seems to have doubts about him but.. something tells me he might be able to impress us. i think this whole soft personality is an act. he seems ruthless deep down, like he would sell all of our souls for a single corn chip.”  
“that’s... an interesting metaphor.”  
“oh well.. you seem busy, sorry for interrupting.”  
“oh no it’s fine, i promise!”  
“good luck on your assessment!” he was already walking away to go converse with the others.

mark took a deep breath, before making his way over to jungwoo. the other opened his mouth to speak, before mark grabbed him by the arm and led him upstairs to a separate room. he made sure to lock the doors before talking again, “okay, i know, this looks bad but-“  
“from the beginning? so all that bullshit ten talked about you being like his loyal little brother was bullshit? you’ve been playing both sides this entire fucking time. i can’t believe i just thought you were some stupid little kid! no you’re a genius deep down, an evil one. three days to find food? i really believed that. maybe i’m the stupid one.”  
“look. i know, from your perspective this seems like a whole evil plot or whatever. but it’s not, okay? i didn’t want to have to choose sides, so i stuck with the both of them. neither of them know and i would prefer to keep it that way.”  
“damn. that’s tough, that’s really tough, cause i sure as hell am not keeping your dirty little secret, mark.”  
“... if you want to have a chance, you better.”  
“what?”  
“i’m the tie breaker. if i vote no, you’ll be sent back out into the woods to rot. doyoung voted no on you already, but jaehyun voted yes. i am the person that gets to decide your fate, jungwoo. so i suggest, if you’d like a bed and safety, you better keep your mouth shut.”

silence once again reigned as jungwoo stared at the younger.

“i _really_ underestimated you, you’re as evil as they come. guess i’m backed into a corner, huh? fine. i’ll keep quiet. i need this. i’m so fucking tired of feeling like i’m gonna die at any second.”  
“great, glad we’ve come to an agreement. leave.”

jungwoo rolled his eyes at the other, standing up, unlocking the door, and leaving. mark sighed, soon doing the same to find taeyong.

taeyong was alone in his “office”, scribbling something onto a piece of paper.  
“i’ve decided.” mark stood in front of him, looking absolutely hopeless.  
“oh?”  
“i think he’s fit for the trials.”  
“lovely! then we’ll start now!”  
mark nodded in response, following taeyong as he left the room and went into the common area.


	7. Chapter 7

“gentlemen! let the trials begin!” taeyong shouted with a large grin.

the tension was so thick outside that it could be cut with a knife, taeil was busy chattering to jungwoo to make sure he was fully prepared before it started.

“you sure you want to keep that weapon?” he asked, glancing down at jungwoo’s barbed steel bat.  
“yes.”  
“and you have no health issues that need to be taken care of before we start?”  
“no.”  
“do you feel lucky?”  
“... what?”  
“do you feel lucky?”  
“.. i guess so...”  
“then that’s all you need. good luck, kid, i’m rooting for you.” he turned back to an anxiously waiting taeyong, nodding, “he says he’s ready.”

taeyong merely gave a look to johnny, in response he nodded, placing two fingers in his mouth and sounding a very high-pitched and distinct whistle. johnny was a huge asset to 127, it was a miracle he was even apart of them because really he would be able to overpower all of them with little effort. he had acquired the ability of calling walkers. they obeyed him like show dogs, coming when he needed them and leaving upon his command. the only downside to this was that johnny permanently reeked of rotting corpse. however, considering most of them hadn’t showered in weeks, no one really noticed.

johnny began to move backward, making sure everyone except taeyong and jungwoo were behind him. almost immediately, the sounds of cracking twigs and the groans of those beasts started to sound all around them. the adrenaline started to course through jungwoo’s veins as he gripped tightly onto his bat.

jungwoo’s concentration was thrown off by two claps from taeyong, who was simply beaming. “this is your first trial, kill all of them.”  
jungwoo was obviously taken aback by the request, “a-all of them? but how many are there?”  
“who knows. but you can handle it, can’t you?” taeyong smirked as he went to take his place behind johnny.

jungwoo turned around, the bat shaking slightly in his calloused hands. his throat was dry and he could hear his heartbeat in his ears. he had always heard 127’s trials were tough, but he never imagined this. as the sounds got closer, he started to shake even worse, until the first one emerged from the trees. it’s disgusting arms outstretched, reaching for jungwoo as it let out a gurgling hiss.

for what seemed like eternity, he hesitated, staring at the creature in fear. it’s eyes were white and lifeless, it’s flesh hanging onto it’s face by mere strings. it was so far gone that you could barely tell it used to be human.

the others stared in anticipation, taeil wanting to yell something to have him snap out of it but he knew that was against the rules. doyoung had this smug look on his face, assuming that this very first one would be able to kill him.

jungwoo closed his eyes tightly, shaking his head before springing into action. he swung the bat with all his might, colliding it with the infected’s skull, what was left of it’s brain splattering onto the forest floor and it’s body collapsing afterward.

thus began the fight. he hopped around, bashing in the heads of countless amounts of animated corpses. at one point there were so many of them that he started having to swing for their kneecaps to stun them. he refused to have any close encounters and wouldn’t let any within three feet of him. he had killed roughly more than sixty when they finally stopped, the area littered with lifeless bodies. he, himself, was covered in brain matter, and now he and johnny smelled the same.

he dropped to his knees, panting. there wasn’t a sound other than jungwoo’s breathing for a long while until taeyong broke said silence.

“well done,” he smiled, jungwoo looking up at him, “now we’ll move onto the next part-“  
“there’s more?” jungwoo almost growled out, he didn’t intend to sound as aggressive as he did but sadly it had just come out that way.  
“yes. this portion is where you fight real humans. us.” he gestured to the crowd, “excluding johnny, of course, he doesn’t like to participate in violence against other humans.” johnny shyly nodded, stepping away from the other seven that were there. “so we’ll start from our youngest to our eldest, then of course to me. mind you, we will be trying to kill you, however your objective is to disarm us completely. if you get out of hand, and end up actually killing one of us, we _will_ return the favor.” he grinned, “so, do you feel ready?”

jungwoo sighed, standing and stretching, giving a few test swings on his bat, “i guess so.”  
“ah, yes, i forgot to mention, you’re not allowed to have your weapon. hand it over.”  
jungwoo paused for a moment, reluctantly holding out the bat, “and what about you guys?”  
“oh no,” he took the bat, placing it against the wall of their sanctuary, “we’ll all have our weapons.”  
jungwoo sighed even deeper, running a hand through his hair before waving his hand dismissively, “alright, let’s get this over with.”


	8. Chapter 8

donghyuck was the first to step out, cooly holding up his shotgun, aimed for jungwoo’s head.

“HEY, WAIT, HOLD THE FUCK UP. HE HAS A _GUN_ ,” jungwoo yelled in disbelief, quickly trying to dive out of hyuck’s direction.  
“yes, people out there have guns as well. you should be able to handle them, if not, well then frankly you’re useless.” taeyong answered, dark eyes locked on jungwoo.

jungwoo just let out a deep groan, signifying the continuation of the trial. donghyuck cocked his weapon, centering the barrel straight at jungwoo’s chest this time. the target quickly leapt out of the way as he pulled the trigger, blowing a large hole in a tree.

“holy shit-“ jungwoo gasped out, again leaping out of the way as hyuck cocked the weapon and shot again. he was an amazing shot, jungwoo had to give him credit.

hyuck quickly started to reload, giving jungwoo a chance to move closer, however this was not long enough of a chance as the younger soon had the weapon aimed on him once again. he dove out of the way once more, the shot missing him by mere centimeters.

his strategy was to move diagonally to get closer to hyuck and away from the bullets at the same time, however as he got closer, so did said bullets. he was shot at again, quickly dodging as he was now merely a few feet from the small boy. he had to reload. jungwoo quickly lunged at him, pushing the weapon as far away as he could. he now had managed to pin hyuck down onto the forest floor, huffing but still rather proud of himself. _seven more to go_ , he thought to himself.

“well done! mark, go on ahead.”

jungwoo quickly crawled off hyuck, remembering that mark’s signature weapon was that old pistol of his. when he stood, he was face to face with said pistol, it pointed directly at his forehead. any normal person would have started to panic, but jungwoo knew better. he had no reason to fear mark, he knew he couldn’t kill him.

mark stared into the other’s eyes, finger resting on the trigger. he was trying his best to use his eyes to signal for jungwoo to do something, taeyong would start to catch on if he saw the two in that position for too long. luckily, jungwoo took the hint and grabbed the pistol, twisting it out of his hand before sweeping a leg under him to make him fall. next thing mark knew, jungwoo had a foot on his chest and his pistol was thrown away from the two.

“hm,” the only noise taeyong gave before shouting the next name.

sicheng was the next to step out, a crossbow in his fairly delicate hands. jungwoo was already so tired of all these projectiles, he ran off already trying to dodge a steel bow cutting sharply through the air. the great thing about sicheng’s weapon was that every time he shot he had to reload with another bow, and luckily he had a limited amount of bows. glancing over his bag he seemed to only have about a dozen on him.

maybe he could wait until sicheng was out? that was his plan at the moment. he kept dodging arrow after arrow, until the fourth one managed to knick his arm, making him start to bleed rather profusely. however, he could still move as quick as ever, which was currently the only thing saving him. sicheng started to catch onto his movements by the sixth bow, signaling to jungwoo that he had to act now otherwise he would be dead by the eighth. 

he began to try his diagonal trick, switching directions at random intervals to throw him off. however, rather than waiting for sicheng to keep shooting, he would repeatedly move to make sure he didn’t get the chance. soon enough, jungwoo was able to grab sicheng’s leg from under him, yanking him to the floor and throwing his crossbow off to the side.

finally, after projectile after projectile, the next opponent had moved onto melee weapons. jaehyun had a black-handled trench knife that he immediately lunged at jungwoo with. the damn thing’s handle were brass knuckles as well, making things extra difficult for the younger of the two. after every slash he’d move for a punch, actually managing to get one in square on jungwoo’s jaw, causing him to fall back onto the floor. he could already feel the bruise forming on his cheek from it as he stared up at the other. jaehyun took no time to spare as he tried to jump into the other with the blade aimed at his chest. jungwoo quickly rolled to the side, causing the knife to sink into the dirt instead. he hoped that would be enough to stun him, even for a little, but he managed to get it out of the floor quickly, slashing for jungwoo’s neck. the whole thing was quick and overwhelming, and jaehyun seemed nonchalant about it, as if murder was just another boring task he had to perform.

jaehyun was very quickly able to pin the other down, sitting on his chest and keeping his arms down with his knees. jungwoo had to think quickly, and at this point it seemed the only viable option was to use his head. so he did. he head-butted jaehyun, hard, causing him to fall back. he shook off the overwhelming pain he was in to be able to roll them over so he was on top, clawing the knife from his hand and tossing it away. he fell back as soon as he realized he had defeated jaehyun, the both of them laying on the floor panting and dizzy from the blows to the head.

an irritated sigh was heard by the both of them, but neither bothered to see who it was. it was of course, doyoung, leaning on his katana, “you done laying around there, jae, we get it, you lost.”  
“shut... up.” jaehyun breathed out, putting both hands over his head. it felt like his skull was about to crack open, jungwoo must have had bones of steel.

soon, jaehyun left the “arena”, and jungwoo stood. he was dizzy and bleeding, but he was halfway done. if he could conquer the next four, he’d finally have it easy.

“you good now, kid?” doyoung stood up straight, holding up the katana he was leaning on earlier. jungwoo recognized it. not because he’d seen it before, but because he’d heard of it: it was ten’s katana originally. the black handle with the purple tassels attached to it, the engraved patterns on the blade. ten spoke of it all the time, and how much he despised doyoung for stealing it when he left the group. ten said he had come back the night they left specifically to take it, he said he knew doyoung never wanted it for practical reasons, but just as a trophy for “defeating” him.

doyoung noticed him staring at the weapon, smirking as he twisted it in the light, “pretty, right? it was a gift from an old friend. he called it his ‘dream within a dream’ or something stupid like that.” jungwoo only nodded in response, signifying to doyoung that he was indeed ready.

doyoung sprung into action, startling jungwoo with how unbelievably fast he was. the next thing he knew, he had that blade against the side of his neck, and a disappointed doyoung close to his face. 

“tsk, it’s not any fun if i’m able to kill you this easily. jaehyun made you seem like a challenge.” he slowly slid down the weapon, causing it to cut jungwoo’s flesh a bit. “try again. focus, this time.” he stepped back, staring at the other.

although jungwoo was starting to see why ten disliked him so much, he realized he was right. he wasn’t focused. he took a deep breath, trying to draw any and all attention away from any of his injuries and instead hone them in on doyoung. he stared back at the other, muttering an “okay.”

again, doyoung started. however this time, jungwoo moved as well, able to keep up with his speed. to those outside the fight, it resembled an elegant dance between the two, their feet moving in sync and their eyes locked on each other. but jungwoo couldn’t keep this up forever and it felt as if doyoung was merely playing with him. he had to think, quickly.

he came to a dead halt, grabbing the blade of the weapon with his bare hand when doyoung went to attack. he used his other hand to throw a punch to doyoung’s face, managing to distract him before yanking the katana away with his other hand. he rapidly turned the katana the other way, pointing it toward doyoung. he could have killed him right now, killed him and went back to ten. a part of him wanted to, truly, but he had made his decision and there was no going back. he threw the weapon to the side, his left palm now gashed open from stopping the blade.

everything hurt, but at least now, there were only three left. of course, next was yuta. the man owned a sickle, which could very easily decapitate jungwoo with one move. yuta went straight for trying to drive the point into his skull, jungwoo jumping backward. next he tried to side swipe the weapon, the other grabbing his arm and slamming him to the ground. this was fairly successful, except for the fact that yuta had taken him down as well.

they were both scrambling on the floor, jungwoo trying to keep his arms down while yuta kneed him in the back, causing him to let go of his arms from both shock and pain. yuta managed to stab the point into jungwoo’s back, just managing to miss his spine by very little. jungwoo screamed in pain, arching his back before landing a punch straight into yuta’s forehead and bringing his knee up to slam into his jaw. he pinned his arms down once again, snatching the sickle from him and throwing it to the side.

next was the eldest, the only one who rooted for jungwoo at all. taeil stood, calmly removing two knives from his belt. they resembled him, small but extremely sharp. he spun the knives in his fingers before look at jungwoo, “well come on, make a move.”

jungwoo nodded hesitantly, before slowly stepping up to taeil and taking a swing. taeil stepped back to avoid it, expertly slashing one of the knifes to create a large gash on jungwoo’s side. he hissed in pain, trying to sweep a leg under him but somehow taeil had gotten him to fall instead. jungwoo fell to the floor, and the next thing he knew he saw a knife flying toward his head. he rolled out of the way quickly, sitting up and yanking taeil down to the floor as well. 

the bad thing about this was that taeil still had one of his knives, and he sunk it straight into jungwoo’s thigh without any hesitation. while jungwoo was distracted by the pain, he fished his other knife from the ground, taking another swing at him: another gash on his cheek. jungwoo took a deep breath before yanking out the knife that was implanted in his thigh with a yelp, now using it to counter taeil.

jungwoo was losing hope by the second, he was bleeding in multiple areas and the swelling in his cheek started to impair his vision slightly. something told him he couldn’t beat taeil, but taeil himself rooted for him. he couldn’t just sit here and die. he quickly slashed for the handle of the knife, managing to knock the knife from taeil’s hand, as well as cut him just a bit in the process. he threw the knife in his own hand before tackling the other, thankfully getting him pinned. the smile taeil gave him made him forget how much pain he was currently in.

last but not least, was taeyong. he had the worst weapon by far: a sledgehammer. one hit and jungwoo’s bones would be shattered. how wonderful! he stared into taeyong’s fairly gentle eyes, which were currently watching him lose slowly color.

“one more, kid, you can handle one more right?” he said, swinging the sledgehammer over his shoulders.  
“i... i can try.” he said, weakly. everything hurt. but taeyong was right, only one more. one more and then he was finished and he would finally get shelter and a capable team. he stood straight up, trying to indicate he was ready.

taeyong took the hint and lowered the hammer, swinging it around a little before running at jungwoo with it. the younger had to quickly dive behind a tree to escape the blow, taking this chance to quickly pounce at him, knocking him to the ground. he was able to get him pinned easily, honestly for a “final boss” jungwoo felt underwhelmed.

taeyong smiled from underneath him, “good job!” then he leaned upward and unexpectedly placed a fat, wet kiss on jungwoo’s forehead before throwing him off and standing. “everyone, welcome our new member jungwoo!”

jungwoo, who was currently laying on the floor in complete and utter agony, merely raised his arm and gave a weak “yay.”

taeyong giggled from above, “can someone please, fix him up?”

next thing he knew, johnny scooped him up off the ground like it was nothing, giving him a warm smile as he carried him into the house. for a moment, jungwoo felt at peace.


	9. Chapter 9

as jungwoo was healing up, mark had to face the scoldings of taeyong, who was no longer distracted by the sudden guest. 

“and?”  
“and i wasn’t able to find one, what more do you want?” mark avoided eye contact at any cost, darting his eyes around the room.  
“you’ve been at this for roughly three months and every time you come back empty handed. you have three days each time, i don’t understand how you haven’t been able to find any other living humans. you do realize we’re starting to run out of supplies, correct? every time you go out on one of your sprees and take food, we have to ration even more. you’d think that sending donghyuck with you would help, but no, he always returns a day before you empty handed as well. have you ever thought to let him stay the full three days?”  
“no, he’s not ready-“  
“it’s not up to you anymore. he _must_ stay with you all three days.”  
“taeyong, i’m telling you, he’s too young-“  
“he’s a year younger, mark, you can’t keep using that goddamn excuse. he’s staying with you all three days, that is final.” taeyong said, his tons firm as he stood up straight.  
“... fine.” mark finally looked him in the eyes before standing and walking out the door to find hyuck’s room.

hyuck was once again reading his favorite manga. truthfully, it was his only one. his father had gifted it to him before all this started, he lost his father but he still was able to keep this with him. he heard knocking on the door, staying completely silent until he heard three knocks in different areas on the door, signifying it was mark.

“come in,” he closed the book, sitting up on his bed. mark came in, gingerly closing the door and sitting on the bed across from him.  
“so taeyong got fed up with me coming back empty handed.”  
“sounds about right,” hyuck chuckled half-heartedly.  
“yeah well, he wants you to stay all three days with me now.”  
“mark, i already told you i’m not gonna join u, they’re fucking weak. especially now that they lost jungwoo.”  
“no, hyuck, i’m not gonna force you to join. actually, i think you should spend one day with dream, like normal, then use the next day to actually try to find food. taeyong said we’re running out, and he said it’s my fault.”  
“so you’re gonna make me do your job-“  
“hyuck if i could do it myself, i would, but unlike you i have three groups to check up on, not just two.”  
“yeah, and one of them doesn’t even have a shelter. ten really thinks that being nomadic is safe, huh?”  
“if you’re always on the run, no one can catch you.”  
“yeah sure, whatever floats both of your crazy ass boats... when do we leave?”  
“morning.”  
“damn, i thought maybe he was so mad he was gonna make you go right now.”  
mark rolled his eyes, “he loves me too much.”  
“yeah but i sure as hell don’t... you think you could go barter with taeil to get me a snack?”  
“what? no, you just said you didn’t love me! did you use up your rations?”  
“.. maybe.”  
“then no.”  
“mark. i love you. mark. mark, you’re my bestest friend.” as he whined, he crossed over to mark and plopped himself on his lap, hugging him tightly. “mark, i’d do anything for you come on just get me one twinkie.” he pouted.  
“no.”  
“mark! i love you so much, please.” he leaned in to plant a kiss on his cheek before mark yanked his head away.  
“will you keep your lips to yourself if i do?”  
“i won’t make any promises.”  
he sighed, “fine. get off.”  
hyuck’s face lit up with a huge smile before hopping back onto his bed. his little trick of drowning mark in affection always worked wonderfully.


	10. Chapter 10

when the sun arose in the morning and everyone had awoken, mark and hyuck had packed for their journey. after eight separate goodbyes, they finally left the sanctuary. hyuck yawned as he began to walk, mark by his side.

“did we really have to leave so early? i’m so tired..” the younger whined, attempting to wipe the tiredness from his eyes.  
“no one told you to stay up all night. what were you even doing?”  
“i was making sure everyone slept well, then i found jungwoo roaming around the hallways so i interrogated him for about two hours.”  
“did he find out anything about you?”  
“no, mark, i’m not an idiot.”  
“coulda fooled me.”

they bickered the entire journey, as usual. they had been bickering for years on various topics.

_a few months after the seventh sense had been established, mark was on a real hunt for food, but rather than finding any he found a familiar face. it was donghyuck, his neighbor from before society had collapsed. he looked like he was starving and he was fairly terrified by mark._

_“holy shit, donghyuck? it’s me! mark. kid next door!!” he smiled as nicely as he could at the younger to try to ease his fears._  
_hyuck’s eyes widened as he remembered who it was, and immediately without a word he ran into a hug with him, sobbing into his shirt._  
_taken aback by this, he returned the hug and pet his hair, trying his best to comfort him. that’s the way they sat for a long while until hyuck finally had let it all out and calmed down._

_“so, i’m actually apart of this group! we have food and water and were safe! would you like to-“_  
_“no.” hyuck interrupted, shaking his head._  
_“what- i didn’t finish, i was going to ask if you’d like to join our team.”_  
_“no.”_  
_“why not? hyuck, i’m offering you safety here-“_  
_“i... i’ve seen your group around. i’ve heard a lot about the seventh sense.. i-i can’t.”_  
_“oh... hey, hyuck where are your parents?”_  
_he bit his lip, trying to hold back more tears, “gone.. but i learned you can’t trust adults anymore...”_  
_“what happened?” mark furrowed his brows, concerned._  
_“nothing.. don’t worry about it.”_

_he never actually told mark what he meant by that, but it prompted mark to take him under his wing. he found empty shelter for hyuck to reside in and learn to live successfully by himself. this was when his little trips started. every other day he’d visit hyuck and then go back to the seventh sense. his excuse was usually to find food, which he did “find” with hyuck. in truth, donghyuck had began to garden, growing and hunting enough food for himself as well as the others whom he’d never spoken a word to._

_it worked well until one night, donghyuck had found an intruder in his home. the boy was rifling through his cabinets and eating like he had been starving for days. however, hyuck didn’t trust anyone, so his first instinct was to of course knock him unconscious and wait for mark._

_“WHO THE FUCK IS TIED TO THE CHAIR? OH MY GOD HIS MOUTH IS DUCT TAPED. OH MY GOD- HYUCK I DIDN’T TEACH YOU TO DO THIS WHAT THE FUCK?!” mark had barged in, unannounced, and began to yell._  
_“sh!” donghyuck rolled his eyes. “he was stealing food from me and i didn’t know what to do, so i knocked him unconscious and waited for you.”_  
_“WHY IS HIS MOUTH TAPED?”_  
_“well at first, he pleaded for his life as if i wouldn’t have already killed him if that was my plan. but then as the hours passed by, he started to subtly insult me. like when i’d walk past, i could feel him mouth something at me. he’s annoying. so his mouth got taped.” he looked over, sneering at the other boy._  
_“oh my fucking god-“ mark sighed, going over to the boy and trying to peel off the tape as gently as he could, but to no avail._

_the boy groaned in pain before stretching his jaw, “thanks..” he spoke, looking up into the elders eyes. “well, i went in here because i thought it was empty, i should’ve stopped when i realized there was a fuck ton of food, but i hadn’t eaten in six days and i was starving so.. then asshole here knocked me out and tied me to this chair.”_  
_“... what’s your name?”_  
_“renjun.”_  
_“so, you weren’t planning to murder hyuck?”_  
“ _no? why would i waste my time on his irritating ass?”_  
_“YOU TAKE THAT BACK, I’LL KILL YOU FOR REAL THIS TIME.” hyuck intervened, growling at the other boy._

_mark, however, was thinking. it was made evident by the blank stare on his face before he stopped their bickering. “renjun, how old are you?”_  
_“fifteen.”_

_hyuck’s jaw dropped before snapping his head to mark. he knew exactly where he was going with this and he did not like it._  
_mark nevertheless ignored donghyuck, going behind the chair and untying the boy. “before you run away,” he put a hand on renjun’s shoulder, “i’d like to offer you to stay here. you’d get a full plate of food every day, and you’ll get shelter as well.”_  
_renjun raised an eyebrow at him in disbelief, “what’s the catch?”_  
_“none, just stay. we just want your safety.”_  
_“what do you mean we? i-“_  
_“hyuck. it’s not your decision.” hyuck huffed in response, glaring somewhat at renjun._  
_“... why not? just don’t kill me or anything.” renjun nodded._  
_“we won’t.” mark smiled._

_that was how dream started, mark wanted to save any and all minors he found that were lost and without a family. soon after renjun was added, the house was filled with more and more lost boys. there were the four that were the same age (donghyuck, renjun, jeno, jaemin) and the two youngest that rarely separated from one another (jisung and chenle). mark became their leader, and they had complete and utter trust in him, even if they didn’t know about him playing for three different teams. donghyuck was the only one who ever knew, and when 127 formed, mark coerced him into joining as well._

as they walked up to the familiar part of the woods around the dreamies’ home. the floor was full of rubber ducks and there were stuffed bears hanging from the trees, an awfully adorable sight, but in reality it was anything but.

the toys were bombs. the ducks crafted by chenle and the bears by jisung. if they were touched even slightly, they’d explode, killing whatever unfortunate soul dared to touch them. as if the bombs weren’t hard enough to maneuver around, there were traps set up everywhere by the other dreamies, making it quite a task to reach their home. luckily, donghyuck and mark knew exactly how to get past it easily, so it was no big deal.

when they finally reached the small home, mark called out, “alright guys, we’re back!”  
chenle was there to greet them, smiling before tossing a duck up into the air, “mark, catch!”  
of course, on instinct, mark caught the toy, regretting it instantly.


	11. Chapter 11

mark dropped the duck, yelling amidst chenle’s cackles.

“WHAT THE FUCK, CHENLE?”  
“oh my god, calm down it’s just a regular duck!” he kept laughing loudly, as mark was busy angrily yelling. he interrupted said yells, by pouting, “look at the duck, mark, it looks like you!”  
he paused, picking up the duck, it looked like a normal rubber duck but with a lions mane and tail, mark was not amused.  
“it’s CUTE!”

mark glared, walking in wordlessly, still holding the duck in his hand. donghyuck followed, giving chenle a high five on his way in.

as soon as the two walked in, they were just about tackled by jaemin, who squished them into a hug with his large arms. “i missed you guys!”  
donghyuck returned the hug while mark groaned, “you always miss us.”  
“because i love you both so much.”  
mark went to escape the hug before it was made tighter by jeno joining in, his laughter echoing throughout the house. hyuck was loving it as always, mark however was trying his best to sneak away from the three younger ones.

after a while, the hug broke, and mark noticed jisung on the couch, nose dug deep into a book. hyuck pouted, “you’re not even gonna say hi?”  
“hmm?” he didn’t even look up, “oh yeah, hi.”  
“thanks, i love you too.” he sighed, dropping his bag and sneaking out to the garden to find renjun tending to the plants. he immediately leaned on the elder’s back, arms wrapped around his neck in a tight hug. 

renjun chuckled, patting his arm, “hi, donghyuck.”  
“how was being in charge while we were gone?” he leaned forward a bit, placing his chin on renjun’s shoulder.  
“hectic. chenle spilled some water on one of jisung’s books and jisung felt the need to grab a kitchen knife. then jeno and jaemin had to rip them away from each other, but then they started arguing themselves over who was right. jeno was on chenle’s side and jaemin on jisung’s. i had to step in and remove the knife and put all four of them in a separate corner.”  
“you really put them into corners?”  
“i’m older than all of them, so yeah i could. they each sat there for ten minutes thinking about what they did.”  
donghyuck giggled, burying his face in renjun’s shoulder.

“... is mark here?” renjun asked, warily.  
“of course. what’s wrong?”  
“nothing. just—go inside.” there was something on renjun’s mind but he couldn’t exactly tell what.

they both went back inside after a while to find mark on the floor, one of jisung’s books laying on his face.  
“you asleep?” hyuck asked as he lightly kicked his side.  
“no... tired,” mark groaned from under the pages.  
“well, jaemin apparently made us dinner, so get up.”  
mark groaned even louder, gently pulling off the book and laying it beside him before rolling on his stomach to the other side. “can’t you just like... feeding tube it? i’m too tired to chew.”  
“no way! get up, it’s good!” jaemin hollered from the kitchen.  
an even _louder and longer_ groan came from mark as he stood, shuffling his way over to their “dining room”. it was really just a space connected to the kitchen with a table at it.

the dinner was rabbit stew, mark’s favorite post-apocalyptic meal. it had been so long, he forgot what his favorite pre-apocalyptic meal was.

dinner was full of chatter from everyone except renjun, who had also barely eaten and had been staring at mark the entire time. it seemed as if he were glaring daggers into his skull. everyone felt it and the conversation fell silent, mark giving an inaudible sigh as he met renjun’s stare. “is there something wrong?”

renjun’s blood curdled at being called out, his heart racing faster than ever, but it was now or never: “i should be the one asking you, mark.”  
“what?” mark furrowed his brows, placing his spoon down next to his bowl.  
“you heard me.” renjun did the same, more-so slamming the spoon than placing it.  
“what is that supposed to mean?”  
“you—i’ve been in contact with some people.”  
“and?”  
“... they have told me things.”  
“for fucks sake—if you have something to say then spit it out!” everyone froze. mark barely raised his voice, but the truth was he was just as terrified as renjun, if not more.  
“you’re apart of other fucking groups!” renjun blurted out. his hands were shaking in fear, but he kept them hidden under the table.

the room was silent for what seemed like an eternity before jeno piped up, “is this true?”  
“well, i-“  
“they saw him running off to his other groups! you know when he leaves for two days? that’s him going to visit his TWO other groups. he goes to that weak one, u and then afterwards he fucking goes to 127! he’s apart of 127!” renjun was seething. “how the hell can we trust you to lead us? you could turn us in to the others at any possible moment and just have us killed!”  
“now, hold on, i highly doubt mark would ever do that,” donghyuck interjected, trying not to lead on the fact that he was just as guilty as mark.  
“shut the hell up, hyuck, he deceived all of us!” renjun slammed his fist on the table.

“... so what are you gonna do about it?” mark asked in a grave tone, looking up from his bowl to a terrified renjun.  
“what-“  
“if i’m so dangerous then what are you gonna do about it?”  
renjun stared, lips pursed, eyes unblinking, before quickly running off. no one had a moment to think before the barrel of mark’s own pistol was placed against his head. “i’ll prevent any issues.”

“keep your grubby fingers off my fucking gun.” mark growled, staring up at him.  
“not like you’re gonna need it if you’re dead.” he cocked the gun, pressing it more to his head as he placed his finger on the trigger.  
the others stayed silent, too terrified of the both of them to intervene.  
“do it, pussy.”

jeno rose, grabbing renjun’s arm as he prepared to pull the trigger. “don’t.”  
“what? why the fuck not? he betrayed us!” he pushed his head with the barrel.  
“renjun. this isn’t you. and if we kill him, then really were just as bad as he is.”  
“he deserves it.”  
“but you don’t deserve this. put it down.”  
renjun glared at mark, hand starting to shake as he kept a firm grip on the trigger.

he pulled it away quickly, throwing his pistol onto the table and turning away, “leave. i never want to see your face here again, mark. now.”  
mark clenched his teeth, snatching back his pistol and looking at the rest of them. they all looked terrified; of him. these boys he had basically raised now saw him as a monster who was ready to kill them at any second. renjun was right, it was best to leave. he walked away without a word, grabbing his bag and slamming the door to their house as he trudged back out into the forest.

renjun immediately dove into jeno’s arms, letting out the tears that were built up from the entire situation. all of them had felt as if a piece of their souls had been ripped out. donghyuck was even more scared than the rest of them, he couldn’t even hear renjun’s sobs, all he could hear was his own heart pounding in his ears.


	12. Chapter 12

everyone went to sleep without a word to each other, no one really knew what to say about the the whole situation. renjun, who had his own room, snuck into jeno and jaemin’s for the night and the two comforted him.

meanwhile, hyuck’s joint room, that had now become a singular, was lonely. the small streak of moonlight that leaked through landed right on mark’s pillow, and donghyuck could do nothing but stare at it and wish he were back.

he replayed the night over and over in his head, constantly being stuck on one thing. renjun said he got the information from someone, but who? it obviously wasn’t anyone in dream, so does that mean he’s just as guilty as mark? is he also apart of another group? he doubted this, however he didn’t rule it out completely. he fell asleep as he pondered all this.

in the morning, all his questions were seemingly answered.

there were three new beings there, eating breakfast like it was all good. donghyuck, on instinct, reached for a knife from the kitchen, before being stopped by renjun. “these are our guests-“ he pulled the knife from his hand, “and i’d prefer you’d not threaten them.”

the three looked up at donghyuck, emotionless. it sent chills throughout his body. they gave him a very bad feeling and he didn’t like it at all. he gave renjun a worried look, which the older shook off, putting the knife away. he gestured to the three, staring at donghyuck, “this is yangyang, kunhang, and xiaojun.” the three stared at him for a few seconds before continuing to eat, murmuring amongst themselves.

“why are they here?” hyuck asked in a hushed tone.  
“well... they were the ones who gave me the information,” he paused, seeming pained on the subject, “about mark.”

out of the corner of his eye, he could see a smirk plastered on xiaojun’s lips for a few seconds. it made his stomach turn.

“actually,” kunhang piped up, looking up from his plate, “we have more information on another member of yours.” he quickly glanced at donghyuck before returning his gaze back to renjun, “however, this one comes with a price.”  
“oh well, we don’t exactly have much to offer, but of course we’ll pay whatever price you need.”

“well...” xiaojun turned, resting his chin on the back of the chair, “our facility is a bit—worn down, you see. it would be very beneficial to both of us if we merged.”  
“excuse me, how old are each of you?” donghyuck butted in, raising an eyebrow.  
“xiaojun and i are both nineteen, yangyang here is eighteen-“  
“sorry, we can only take yangyang then.” donghyuck crossed his arms as he spoke.  
“i’m sorry?” kunhang squinted.  
“yangyang is the only one among you who is a minor, these are our policies. only minors.”  
“was mark not our age as well?”  
“you must be a minor when you’re accepted, you are still apart of our group even after you’ve aged. but if you are not a minor you cannot join. therefore, we can only accept yangyang.”  
“we are a package deal.” yangyang spoke for the first time there.  
“then you are all out of luck,” hyuck smiled sarcastically, “thank you for your time.”

there was a moment of silence, the tension in the room seemingly crawling into their skins. the three calmly put down their silverware, before kunhang smiled. “oh no, thank you.” he swiftly pulled out a pistol, aiming the barrel straight a donghyuck’s forehead and pulling the trigger with no hesitation.

it wasn’t until donghyuck’s lifeless body hit the floor that everything settled in for renjun. he sprung into action, lunging for a knife from the kitchen before a bullet went straight through his jugular and he collapsed next to hyuck.

the three looked at each other, communicating silently. they stood and went to leave before being lunged at by the only two left of the 00 line. jaemin was trying to strangle xiaojun while jeno was trying his best to get kunhang pinned to the ground. the two underestimated the youngest, who was left unbothered. he quickly unsheathed two of his own pistols, shooting the two in the back of the head. kunhang groaned, pushing jeno’s corpse off him while xiaojun stretched his now free neck, “there’s two more somewhere, the youngest. it’ll be safer if we take care of them now.” kunhang and yangyang nodded, carelessly stepping over the bodies to search the rest of the place.

it wasn’t long before yangyang found the two, cowering in the garden. they didn’t notice him there, they were busy trying to calm each other down, both quietly sobbing and clinging to each other. yangyang walked over quietly as possible, stopping when he was in front of them, pistols aimed to both of their heads. they both began to blubber, pleading for their lives before it was cut short by two loud bangs.

yangyang walked back, muttering to the other two “done.”  
kunhang nodded, “alright, let’s raid the place and move out, the walkers will be here any time soon from all the commotion.”

they did exactly that, robbing the once lively house of all it’s supplies. it was now empty except for the furniture and the six corpses lying around the floor in pairs. it marked the untimely end of dream.


	13. Chapter 13

after being booted from dream, mark spent his extra two days with u, being smothered in affection by the three remaining members. somehow they sensed mark wasn’t feeling the best, and they tried their best to cheer him up any way they could. it was lovely for mark, but eventually his extra time was up, and he had to leave once more, going through the motions.

when he was on his way to 127, he couldn’t help but wonder where donghyuck was. he wanted to go back to dream and check if he was still there, but he knew better. he wasn’t allowed to, who knows what renjun would do if he saw him back. so he kept on, hoping that donghyuck was already at 127’s sanctuary.

he arrived, proceeding with the usual knocking sequence, and being let in by johnny. however, this time johnny didn’t do his usual act of hugging him to the point where he felt like his ribs would break, instead he kept his distance, walking with his head low. mark regretted coming back almost immediately. he wanted nothing more than to turn back, but he walked right on into the common area, the other members there as well.

taeyong’s voice cut through the silence and sent a chill down mark’s spine, “where is donghyuck?”  
“i—“ mark scanned through the crowd, “i thought he was here already.”  
“you lost him?”  
“well-“  
“god fucking damnit, mark, you had one job.” he sighed annoyedly, running a hand through his hair. “i suppose it doesn’t matter now anyways. our newest recruit has enlightened all of us on some information we weren’t aware of. apparently, the boy was with ten and whoever the hell else he had recruited since we left. oh, but he told about something _much_ more interesting than that.”  
mark winced, dreading the next words taeyong would inevitably say.

“he told us that a certain someone was still with them after all this time. a certain someone who is coincidentally named mark lee, do you know anything about this?”  
“... i never wanted to have to chose between you guys..” he kept his head down, “you, doyoung, and jaehyun meant a lot to me, but so did ten.”  
“we never gave you an option to stick with both of us, it would have been fine if you would have chosen one, but you didn’t. you’re sentimental, right?”  
he kept silent, glancing up at jungwoo, who seemed more heartless than ever. he didn’t regret what he did at all.  
“well, see, you’ve broken one of our rules. rules are what keep us safe, mark, and you know what happens to those who break rules.”  
“no, please-“ mark shook his head, snapping his gaze back to taeyong.  
“if i let you slide, then what kind of example would that set for everyone else?” he sighed, shooting yuta a look. the younger understood it, swiftly grabbing mark and placing both arms behind him with one hand, pulling his sickle out around mark’s neck with the other.  
“taeyong, please, i promise i’ll break it off with them!” mark cried, his eyes darting from taeyong to doyoung to jaehyun, the latter two avoiding his gaze.  
“but it’s too late for that now. you were originally supposed to do that two years ago, mark. to think you really deceived us for _two years_. disgusting. you know, mark, i always felt you were like a little brother to me. someone i could trust with everything, hard working and smart. i was wrong. all this time, you were nothing more than a filthy traitor. honestly, i would have expected this from doyoung of all people, but never in a thousand years you. it hurts. it hurts even more to see you like this, and it’s going to hurt much more when you’re gone, but this was your fault.”

mark was sobbing like he never had before, his tears running down his cheeks onto yuta’s sickle. he was trembling like a leaf and taeyong’s words hurt more than anything. as he choked out his sobs, taeyong looked at him, cooing out, “i’m sorry it has to be like this, mark.” he gave a single nod to yuta, and with one motion, mark’s body fell to his knees and collapsed, his decapitated head rolling next to his lifeless body.

there was a long moment of silence as they all stared at the scene and the crimson that began to pool on the hardwood floor. it was an indescribable feeling of dread, what made it worse was mark still crying, silently; lifelessly. taeyong interrupted it after a long while, “someone clean it up. keep his head.”


	14. Chapter 14

it was yukhei’s turn to watch over for the night, it had been long and tiring, but thankfully he could see the sun starting to peak over the hills and light up the sky a grey-blue. the entire night, he had just wandered around in his thoughts. he found he very often thought of jungwoo. he missed him. of course he appreciated ten and kun’s friendship, but he had a special bond with jungwoo, much resembling his bond with mark. he was close with the two on a level he couldn’t describe, and even closer with jungwoo than he was mark. it hurt to see him leave, but never in a million years would yukhei betray the other three like that. all he wished was that, wherever jungwoo was, he was safe hopefully.

soon the sun had risen fully, and the youngest shook the two elders shoulders gently to wake them; ten groaning in response, but kun slowly rising to meet him with a smile. “good morning, xuxi,” he cooed gently, stretching a bit.  
“morning, kun. how’d you sleep?”  
“fairly decent, i think i chose a soft log to rest on this time,” he chuckled, beginning to also try to wake ten. “anything happen while we slept?”  
“there was a walker maybe ten feet from us, but he kept going and didn’t notice us. also, i saw a squirrel and it was cute.”  
ten groaned, sitting up to face the two, “god, i wish coffee was still a thing. i miss that the most.” he rubbed at his sore neck, before leaning onto kun’s shoulder.

after a while, they had fully awoke and were ready to keep walking as normal, until they heard light footsteps crunching through the leaves and froze. kun and ten immediately dismissed it as a threat and raised their weapons, but yukhei recognized them. soon emerged a familiar figure from the woods.

“jungwoo..” the name tumbled from yukhei’s lips on instinct, his eyes meeting the other’s somberly.  
he was carrying a box in his hands, his bat strapped to his back. he avoided eye contact with yukhei, instead focusing on ten.  
“why did you come back?” ten asked, his eyebrows knitted together.  
“to deliver this,” he thrust the box into ten’s arms with a sad sigh.

confusedly, ten slowly opened the box, finding his worst nightmare inside; mark’s head. he was suddenly blinded with tears, trembling as he held the box that now felt as heavy as lead. this boy he had basically raised was now nothing more than a head in a box. his tears dripped onto it inside, the other two glancing at the horror that was inside.

“why?” yukhei’s voice trembled with anger and hurt, his once loving look at jungwoo turning cold and terrifying.  
“i.. i was sent by taeyong... it’s supposed to be a message-“  
“a message of what? that the three of them are complete scumbags?” ten interjected, raising his voice out of pure fury.  
“t-to not mess with us...” truthfully, jungwoo was terrified of ten, he knew exactly what he was capable of. “mark.. he was apart of both groups, and that broke rules.. this was his way of telling you..”  
“i fucking knew!”  
“what?”  
“of course i fucking knew, i’m not an idiot! i know how mark is, he could never choose sides!”  
“b-but—“  
“i pretended like i didn’t know anything because he obviously didn’t want us to know! i had no right to expose the boy for having a big heart!” ten’s tears were spewing as quickly as his heated words did.

he clenched his jaw, looking down at mark again before taking a deep breath and looking up at jungwoo, “take me to them.”  
“that’s not-“  
“take me to them or i will do worse to you, jungwoo.” his voice stopped trembling and was now instead completely serious and scared jungwoo more than anything.  
jungwoo nodded, beginning to lead his three former teammates.


	15. Chapter 15

after a completely silent trek, they reached the sanctuary, kun giving ten an uneasy look which the younger disregarded, instead looking at jungwoo.

“go on.”  
“what?”  
“don’t play dumb, there’s no way we can just waltz in. do your stupid special knock or whatever.”

jungwoo sighed, doing as told and being greeted by a smiling johnny, who’s bright smile suddenly turned scared when he saw the three behind jungwoo. jungwoo muttered, “just let them in,” as he passed.

everyone recognized them the moment they walked in, it was evident by their stares. but none of their looks could be described as particularly frightful, in fact they all thought u was weak. however, ten couldn’t care less of what they thought of him or the other two, he had business to attend to.

he cleared his throat, his icy voice cutting through the quiet chatter in the room, “where is taeyong?”  
a familiar sarcastic tone met his own, “wouldn’t you like to know?”  
he sighed out of frustration, “i didn’t come for you or your immaturity, dongyoung.”  
“he’s upstairs, furthest room to the left.” another familiar voice, jaehyun.  
“thank you.” ten nodded, following his directions.

truthfully, jaehyun had learned to loosen up a bit over the years. he no longer resented ten as much, in fact he had grown to somewhat respect him. he felt guilty for judging kun too soon as well, from the looks of it, kun was everything ten had said he was; a strong, kind, and quick-witted teammate. a part of him had always wanted to go back and make amends, be he knew he’d be ostracized for even thinking so by the other two.

ten barged into taeyong’s office, placing the box upon his desk, “is this who you’ve become? is this a fucking game to you now? you really went and _killed_ the boy who’d done nothing but try to make you happy for years?”  
“nice to see you too. you do realize he deceived me for years, right?” taeyong sat, unbothered.  
“you’re so fucking stupid! how did you not realize what he’d do? he was barely seventeen, of course he wouldn’t just choose one side! i realized immediately, taeyong, because unlike you i actually bothered to find out who he was as a person rather than treating him like some sort of killing machine in training.”  
“ten, you know, i loved mark just as much as you did-“  
“no! no you fucking didn’t! you dragged him in the middle of bullshit he wasn’t apart of and then you murdered him for being the sweet boy he was! you never gave a shit about him, you used him to prove a point.”  
“he was like a brother to me, but he broke the rules of our group.”  
“yeah well, guess the fuck what? he was like a son to me, you heartless piece of shit. it was your fault for being too stupid to realize-“  
“i think you forget,” he stood, leaning over his desk, “you’re in _my_ office here. maybe you should step the fuck down before you end up just like him.”

ten clenched his fists, simply trembling in absolute rage, he couldn’t hold himself back anymore. he sent a punch straight to taeyong’s eye, knocking him back a bit from the sheer amount of force. while he was stunned for the short period of time, ten ran around the desk, sending a kick to his stomach, knocking him down onto the floor. he straddled his chest before grabbing him by the hair and slamming his head into the hardwood floor. he kept repeating this action, tears starting to slip from his tightly shut eyes, he didn’t stop until he noticed taeyong had stopped struggling. his mashed skull was in a large pool of dark red and he had stopped breathing. it was horrifying. the man he had originally started the seventh sense with, had now been murdered by his own hands. the worst part; he didn’t feel the slightest ounce of regret.


	16. Chapter 16

after ten had calmed down, he slowly made his way down the steps, back down into the common area. they had all heard the struggle, he could sense it by the sudden tenseness in the air.

“well,” he ran a hand through his hair nonchalantly, “your leader is dead. i give each of you three options; you can either join me, leave peacefully, or fight for your deceased leader. i suggest anything but the latter.” as he said the last sentence he withdrew his axe, twirling it in his hand. kun and yukhei soon followed suit with their own weapons.

there was silence for a few moments until doyoung shoved his way through the crowd, “don’t act like you’re such hot stuff, ten. how the hell could you kill him? you’re pathetic.”  
“alright, well, i never asked for your opinion. however, before you make your decision, i’d love my katana back.”  
“fuck no. you don’t deserve a piece of art like this,” he unsheathed the weapon, “furthermore you don’t deserve to be standing here while taeyong is up there dead.”  
“ah, i see you’ve decided. kun, yukhei, i’ll handle this, you can take care of anyone else that feels the same though.”

thus began the long awaited battle between ten and doyoung. they were both extremely skilled fighters; quick, cunning, and deadly. most would think a fight between the two would be a stale mate.

when they fought it looked like an intricate dance, in a way they both looked stunning. all either could focus on was trying to end the life of the other while taking minimal damage. one wrong step in their deathly waltz meant the end. this small mistake was made by doyoung. in the blink of an eye, ten had slashed his throat with his axe, and he tumbled to the floor, clutching the gash as he clung to life. to everyone watching it felt like a fever dream, so quick and magnificent that it wasn’t until doyoung had finally slipped away that it settled in.

ten, without any hesitation, took back what was rightfully his, feeling immense satisfaction at his katana finally being back in his hand. he dropped the axe as if it was a piece of trash onto the floor with the slightest of smirks. he looked back up at the horrified crowd, sheathing his weapon once more, “have you all decided?”

the crowd began to slowly shift, as people left the sanctuary with their hands raised to show that they were posing no threats. those left, who were now ultimately apart of u: johnny, taeil, and jaehyun. all three found potential in ten, kun, and yukhei. naturally, u took over 127’s sanctuary, ten still being the leader and treating each member as if they were family.

as for yuta and sicheng, the two felt it better to work on their own. they were each other’s rock. unfortunately, sicheng was one day bitten by a walker, and after countless attempts to stop the process by yuta, he turned. yuta, absolutely heartbroken, had no willpower left to fight back when the infected sicheng went for him next.

jungwoo went to live on his own. he didn’t feel comfortable with anyone anymore and had grown immense trust issues. his end came months later when he accidentally stepped foot on a rubber duck.

kunhang, xiaojun, and yangyang survived together for many years, playing the same games with many others. ruining trust within groups only to make it easier to slaughter and steal for their own benefit. they played their game well, and knew not to mess with u, as they had now grown to be known as the most powerful group in the post-apocalyptic world.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> the end!!!! thank you so much for reading!! if you found this au through ao3, i suggest following my twitter account (@chittaphreak) because i have many more aus there!!!


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